Soap Bubbles
by Twilight Zephyr
Summary: The cold can make anyone feel a little bit sentimental... Shizaya ; kink meme fill


**Notes:** Please remember that I'm engaged with **help_japan** and you can get some fic out of it! There are links to my threads in my profile; be sure to check them out! It'll make me really happy and it's all for a very good cause.  
**Title:** Soap Bubbles  
**Fandom:** Durarara!  
**Pairing:** Shizaya  
**Rating:** pg  
**Words:** 4232 words  
**Prompt:** Shizuo/Izaya, bubble bath. Lots of slow stroking and cuddling, please!  
**Disclaimer:** It's not mine. It all belongs to others who I am in no way associated with and I make nothing from writing this, got it?

**Soap Bubbles**

Izaya was still shivering from having been stuck outside in the cold for as long as he had been, and internally he was cursing Shiki for being late and leaving him standing there on a street corner like a cheap hooker. Needless to say he still wasn't happy about it – he didn't take well to essentially being stood up.

"_Something came up, we can talk about that matter tomorrow."_

His eyebrow twitched at the memory; his fingers had been too numb to effectively push the buttons on his phone when it went off, and he'd wound up dropping it and missing the call. Luckily, though, Shiki had been kind enough to leave him a message. He'd fumbled with his phone in order to listen to it and he'd been pissed to find out that he'd waited out there for no reason.

What had made it worse that no less than two people had propositioned him, thinking that he actually _**was**_ a prostitute.

Needless to say, Izaya hadn't been a happy camper when Shizuo had found him there.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

Izaya spun around to face the blond. He didn't think that he'd be able to outrun Shizuo; his legs were shaking violently from the cold and his entire body felt as though it was frozen. With his fingers stiff and numb Izaya was sure he wouldn't be able to wield his flick blade, much less hold it.

Shizuo frowned, "Your lips are turning blue."

"Th-th-thanks for th-that a-a-astute ob-observation Sh-Shizu-ch-chan!" Internally, Izaya cringed at how pathetic he sounded; that was another thing that he hated about winter. He couldn't control his voice once his body's temperature dropped so low. And fuck! He was _**freezing**_!

And of course, at that point, things had to go to hell.

A middle-aged man, his hair streaked with grey, came up to the two of them. He stopped in front of Izaya and grinned – his breath reeked of alcohol. "Hey there baby, you looking for a little action for tonight?"

Of course, Izaya's trembling legs just had to give way right at that moment too, sending him sprawling to the ground in an inelegant heap. And they were so numb that he didn't really feel any pain when his knees connected hard with the sidewalk. He just cursed and glared rather weakly at the man – the third one today! – who had propositioned him.

He was so going to kill him!

Well he would if he could get his hands to stop shaking and his fingers to actually bend properly; he couldn't maintain a proper grip even if he tried.

Luckily for Izaya, he wasn't alone and Heiwajima Shizuo didn't take too well to sharing what he considered his.

Izaya was sure he could see the nerve popping before Shizuo snapped his cigarette in half and stomped on it. The man didn't even have a chance to register the fact that he'd pissed off one of the most infamous men in Ikebukuro before Shizuo's fist had introduced itself to his face.

He flew back a good four or five feet before crumpling to the ground; he didn't get up but gave a pitiful groan.

Well, Izaya wasn't going to complain. He was freezing and pissed off and he could feel his limbs. The last thing he needed was to be propositioned by drunk middle-aged men looking for a quick lay. Just the idea of letting any of them touch him like that made his stomach churn.

A warm jacket dropped over his head, breaking him out of his thoughts. His numb fingers groped clumsily at the edges of it and pulled it tightly around him. The jacket smelled of Shizuo; a distinctive scent that Izaya would recognize anywhere. It was hard to describe but he loved it; it was immensely comforting and he relaxed, still shivering violently.

Then an arm slid under his knees as another slipped around his shoulders. Izaya started at the contact, and turned to level a glare at the blond.

"Wh-wh-what a-a-are y-you d-d-doing?" His throat was burning from the cold and his stutter undermined his protests. Shizuo was warm and Izaya automatically moved closer to him, seeking it out.

"Taking you home before you turn into a popsicle. What does it look like?" Shizuo shifted Izaya in his arms, shielding the informant from the wind a little more with his body as he started off down the street. He ignored the confused and sometimes fearful looks that people were giving him.

Unlike Shizuo, Izaya felt the scrutinizing looks on him acutely and, if his blood wasn't so cold and busy trying to keep him warm, then his cheeks would've been an extremely bright shade of red. He averted his face from them, burying it into the collar of Shizuo's fleece pullover. The blond was surprisingly warm and didn't seem at all effected by the cold, something that made Izaya a little jealous.

"What the hell were you doing out here anyway?"

Izaya's brain was a little foggy from the cold; it took him a few minutes to respond to Shizuo's question. "A-a-any r-r-reason f-for th-the tw-twenty qu-qu-questions?"

"Because the last thing I want is to be lugging dead weight around; you passing out wouldn't be a good thing. I don't want to have to take you to Shinra because of exposure or some other bullshit." It was a little surprising that Shizuo knew what that was, but Izaya felt to cold to think on it very much.

"O-o-oh... b-b-business r-reasons. I-I g-g-got st-stood u-up."

Shizuo tensed at that. Izaya could feel his hands clench around him and he was glad that his body was so numb because he couldn't actually feel too much more than the pressure. His hands relaxed a little after that initial moment but they were still shaking.

"Really."

"N-not l-like th-th-that!" Izaya knew that he didn't sound convincing with his stuttering, but that wasn't something that he couldn't help. "H-h-he c-cancelled th-the m-me-meeting o-on m-me a-and d-d-didn't t-t-tell m-m-me u-until a-a wh-while a-aft-ter."

He felt Shizuo take a deep breath, although he could still feel the tension in Shizuo's muscles. It would take more than that to convince the blond that he wasn't cheating on him in their messed up relationship; but his slip-up came when his brain wasn't functioning at full capacity. Too cold.

"Th-th-that wa-wasn't wha-wh-what I-I m-meant..." Izaya sneezed, moving closer to Shizuo. He pushed his fingers against Shizuo's chest as he did. His cold lips were close to the other's neck, so he pressed them against the blond's neck. "S-s-sorry."

"I think the cold is making you sentimental," Shizuo muttered. His cheeks were tinged with a faint shade of pink as he glanced away.

Shrugging felt awkward and Izaya felt sleepy so he just murmured, "M-maybe..."

"You're always more sentimental when you're cold or tired," Shizuo commented, almost offhandedly. His arms shifted Izaya a little, tightening around him and pulling him closer. He paused briefly at the corner to pull his coat around the informant a little more.

Izaya's only response was a soft hum, his lips trembled as he breathed and he let Shizuo move him around in his arms as though he was a doll. What he really wanted to do was sleep, but that wasn't a good idea so instead he focused on Shizuo's voice.

"I'm gonna guess that your day was shit. And you know, I really don't want to fucking know how many guys thought you were a hooker – why the hell were you standing on a fucking curb? That's _**real**_ obvious."

"N-not m-my i-i-idea," Izaya protested weakly. "Th-the o-o-one y-you p-punched o-o-out w-w-was th-the th-th-third."

"At least none of them decided to carry you off, I doubt that you'd be able to fight them off."

Izaya shivered from a combination of the cold and disgust at the thought of some random man touching him like that. As much as he hated to admit it, the idea of someone touching him that wasn't Shizuo both horrified him and made him feel almost sick to his stomach.

And at that moment just the thought of why that was made his head hurt like it had been stampeded over by a herd of raging elephants.

Right then, all that really mattered was that Shizuo was warm and that no one was trying to proposition him anymore. He still couldn't feel most of his extremities and he was tired. The rhythmic sound of Shizuo's breathing rising and falling was very relaxing, as was the steady beat of the blond's heart in his chest. Both were quickly lulling him into sleep.

Of course, he didn't actually get the benefit of actually getting to _**fall **_asleep because there was still too much noise despite it being colder than fucking Arctica outside, and how Shizuo would sometimes shift him in his arms a little.

He wasn't going to complain, though, because he was warm and comfortable and really didn't want to move.

Of course, that kind of came to an abrupt halt once they were inside Shizuo's building.

"Hello Shizuo-san," the elderly lady – Ayumi, if Izaya remembered correctly – greeted him. "Oh, hello to you too Izaya-san."

Not feeling particularly talkative, Izaya just blinked slowly at her before snuggling a little closer to Shizuo's chest and pulling his coat more firmly around him. Even if he was inside, he was still fucking cold and wasn't going to be warming up any time soon.

"Hey." Shizuo paused to greet her and ask her how her day was going before excusing himself because Izaya had tugged rather weakly at his shirt.

"C-c-cold... c-c-can w-we g-g-go n-no-now?"

"Oh, I'm sorry I shouldn't keep you." She frowned and shooed them towards the elevator, "Your lips are blue Izaya-san! You shouldn't spend so much time out in this weather or else you'll catch something – I'll bring some soup by later."

"Thanks," Shizuo replied just as the doors slid shut.

Izaya frowned, "I-I-I d-d-don't g-get h-her s-some-sometimes."

"She likes you." Shizuo replied. "It's really that simple."

"Th-that d-d-doesn't m-mean s-sh-she c-c-can b-baby m-me l-l-like th-th-that." Internally, Izaya was debating whether or not the older woman would try to poison him. He'd never really looked into running background checks on everyone in Shizuo's building.

If his hands were free, Shizuo would have face palmed, "I think the cold's gone straight to your brain – she's not trying to 'baby' you stupid."

Whatever smart remark that Izaya would usually have given in response was drowned out when the informant sneezed. Now that he was out of the cold and warming up just a fraction, he was shivering a lot more and every part of him that had been freezing was turning an extremely bright shade of red.

Shizuo smirked, "It looks like you've got a bad case of sun burn."

"Sh-sh-shut u-up!"

Oh, Izaya was going to get even with the blond... once he no longer felt like a human popsicle at least.

The blond didn't seem to notice the vibes of murderous intent that Izaya was giving off, and the dark glare that he was giving Shizuo was undermined by the fact that he was still snuggled up to his chest for warmth. In fact, he looked a bit like a child at that moment, with Shizuo's jacket – that was far too big for him – wrapped around him like a blanket and being carried the way he was.

Shizuo's apartment hadn't changed since the last time Izaya had been there – the same walls and furniture, nothing had been moved or changed. The blond paused only briefly in the little entrance hall to toe off his shoes and drop his keys in the bowl on the small table by the door before striding straight into the living room and dropping Izaya, surprisingly carefully, on the couch.

Tugging off his clothes, Shizuo tossed them onto the table behind him before setting to work on removing Izaya's shoes.

"I-I c-c-can d-do th-that m-my-myself!" Izaya protested; if his blood hadn't been so busy trying to keep his core warm, he would've been blushing.

All Shizuo gave him was a raised eyebrow in response; Izaya's fingers were stiff and seemingly frozen in place.

Standing back up, Shizuo took Izaya's shoes in one hand, "You stay there. If you move, I'll kick your ungrateful ass."

Izaya glared back; it wasn't like he actually _**could**_ move, the blond had already proven that by carrying him all the way here. He didn't trust his legs to hold him up, not after how they'd given out under him embarrassingly out on the street.

Dropping Izaya's shoes off at the front door along with his, Shizuo disappeared down the hallway. The sound of running water filled the silence, and Izaya was pretty much a hundred percent certain that the blond was drawing a bath for him. He wrinkled his nose at the thought, knowing the sort of pain that he'd be in for in the water... not to mention whatever he might catch from being outside in the cold for so long.

Yeah, he really didn't want to think about that. Having Shizuo find him and carry him through the streets was bad enough, the last thing he needed was to get sick.

Still, he knew it was pretty stupid to not listen to Shizuo even if he could move so he stayed where he was on the couch; pulling his violently shaking legs up and wrapping his arms around them as he tried to warm himself up just a little. It was awkward just sitting in the middle of Shizuo's living room completely naked and freezing – arguably the last situation he wanted to be in.

But he was warmer than he was outside and at least he wasn't stuck in the cold anymore. He counted that as a plus.

_Shizu-chan is warm too..._

And yeah, he really didn't like where his thoughts were heading. Not his fault that he got oddly sentimental from the cold and it figured that he would. Stupid cold, stupid weather, stupid snow, stupid Shiki for leaving him to freeze his ass off. His day had gone from average to shitty in just a few hours, but at least things were starting to look up.

Somewhat.

It didn't take too long for Shizuo to come back and it was with surprising gentleness that he picked up the shivering Izaya. Much to his relief, the blond said nothing when he moved closer, pressing his hands and face against the other's warm chest. He really didn't want to hear the teasing he'd probably get for snuggling up to Shizuo. Although usually Shizuo's teasing was more playful than mean when they were alone; he usually saved the violence and anger for the public.

And it just had to figure that Izaya of all people had to fall for the stupid enigma. Why did Shizuo have to be such a... simple complexity? He was just impossible to figure out or predict. And he liked that. He really, really did.

_Ugh... I'm hopeless. And stupid. Falling for Shizu-chan of all people._

The tub had only been filled with a couple of inches of water – probably lukewarm which would be bad enough. He bit his lip to keep himself from making any noises as Shizuo lowered him in; it was going to hurt like hell.

And Izaya was right; it burned. Horribly. It felt a little bit like his entire body had been lit on fire, the way the warmth stabbed through his skin; he would have jumped right back out of the tub if it wasn't for Shizuo's arms which were firmly holding him in the tub to prevent him doing just that.

Of course, that didn't stop him from letting out a pained noise that he was going to vehemently deny was a shriek. Damn it! It _**hurt**_! It felt as though everything was burning and his skin was rapidly turning a very vivid shade of red to reflect that it was warming back up to something healthy. But Izaya was going to complain – or he would if the pain wasn't distracting him from cursing Shizuo out in every language that he knew.

For his part, Shizuo was being surprisingly gentle about the entire thing. His expression was almost one of complete calm, well, except for the tiny furrow to his brow that showed his concern.

One of his hands was very firmly clasped around Izaya's upper arm to keep him in the tub, while the other was rubbing his back in a comforting motion. As much as Izaya wanted to complain about how he wasn't a child and wouldn't take being treated as one, he reserved his concentration for not making any more noises that would embarrass him further.

It didn't stop him from hissing because of the discomfort, though.

"Is it too hot?" Shizuo asked.

Normally, Izaya would have spat something back at him, but he was very slowly becoming used to the temperature of the water and the burn had lessened somewhat. It was more of a mild discomfort rather than the full on burn of before. Plus, Shizuo sounded actually worried, so he'd save the sarcasm for later.

Izaya shook his head, not trusting his voice.

The two of them stayed like that for a long stretch of minutes, Izaya gradually warming up and realizing that the water was only lukewarm. He would have tried to turn the water on – the rest of him was still freezing – but his fingers were still stiff from the cold and ached horribly. Simply flexing them was a clumsy movement on his part.

God damn, he _**hated**_ the cold.

He managed to turn himself in the tub and grab Shizuo's hand that was still around his arm, jerking on it to get his attention.

"What's wrong?"

With a jolt, Izaya realized that Shizuo's hands were almost as cold as he was – or had been, whatever, they were still cold – and he jerked on his hand. "W-wait, you're f-freezing!"

Shizuo shrugged, "Hadn't noticed. Is something wrong?"

Narrowing his eyes, Izaya glared at the blond, "C-cold... and you h-had b-better get in h-here."

Izaya was quite sure that he was not imagining that little predatory glint in Shizuo's eyes at that, but it was overshadowed by concern. The blond was just one giant mass of contradictions; one moment he'd be trying to kill Izaya using whatever heavy objects came to hand and the next he'd be tenderly looking after him after he nearly froze to death.

And celebrities complained about having issues with separating their personal lives from their public lives. Ha! They should take a lesson or two from them; they'd long since become experts on that.

Shizuo sighed, "Alright fine. But no funny business – wait until you're not a popsicle before you try anything."

Right – wait, since when was he the perverted one?

"H-hey–!"

"I was joking. Relax Izaya."

Chuckling just a little, Shizuo stood up and quickly stripped out of his own clothes; throwing them into a corner of the bathroom to be dealt with later. Then he nudged Izaya back a little so that he could fit into the tub as well – it was a tight fit since it wasn't exactly designed for two people – and turned the water on, filling the bath with more hot water.

It was an awkward fit and they wound up having to switch positions in order for them both to fit into the tub comfortably, but they managed finally managed it. Izaya wound up in Shizuo's lap, with his legs on either side of the blond's hips. Not that he minded. He had to reach behind him to turn off the water before it could overflow, twisting around in Shizuo's lap to reach the taps.

Settling back against Shizuo's chest, Izaya noted that while Shizuo was a little chilled he wasn't nearly as cold as he was. His hands were another story, but they were submerged under the warm water and gently stroking along Izaya's thighs.

It wasn't distracting at all.

"Happy now?"

Izaya nodded, leaning close and snuggling close to Shizuo's chest. Usually he would have done something a little more provocative but the cold had sapped his strength. He was slowly warming up, but the hot water was making him feel sleepy and quite content. Really, he didn't want to move.

"I was right," Shizuo murmured, stroking the informant's back. "The cold _**does**_ make you sentimental."

That earned him a sharp glare from the brunette who was currently curled up in his lap, but merely chuckled.

"Don't fall asleep in the tub now," he chided gently.

"... won't..." Izaya slid his arms around Shizuo's neck, noting that the blond was warming up much quicker than he was but finding it rather difficult to feel the correct irritation. He was comfortable and warm – something that he hadn't felt in a while.

Shizuo's hands were warm against his still cool skin and his touch was gentle and, dare he say, loving as they skated over his back and arms. Maybe it was surprising, but Shizuo's hands were leaving trails of heat in their wake. Izaya could feel himself slowly relaxing into the blond's hold and letting his eyes drift closed.

He must have drifted off a little, because he was jerked out of his half-conscious state when Shizuo leaned forward to pull the plug and let the water drain.

Getting out of the tub was a little more difficult, but Shizuo managed it somehow. Trust his monstrous strength to be able to manage Izaya easily with just the one arm. Although, it probably helped that Izaya had wrapped both his arms and legs tightly around Shizuo's neck and waist to keep himself from falling; but Shizuo kept one arm looped under the brunette's thighs as a precaution.

His legs were still wobbly and unsteady underneath him when Shizuo set him briefly on the floor of the bathroom to grab towels for them. Shizuo carefully wrapped the towel around Izaya like a blanket, drying his hair for him before pulling another towel around his own waist.

Wordlessly, Izaya reached out for him as his legs shook underneath him. He was exhausted and his limbs felt like jello; it was pretty obvious that he was only staying on his feet by sheer force of will.

"Oh come on, you can walk on your own, can't you?" Shizuo rolled his eyes, but he was smiling good-naturedly as he acquiesced. His arms slipped around Izaya and easily scooped him up into his arms, not commenting when Izaya snuggled closer to him. "Don't fall asleep just yet."

All he got in response was a sleepy nod.

Chuckling, Shizuo shook his head; he knew that Izaya was already half-asleep and that he'd probably be asleep by the time he got him into bed. He said it mostly out of habit; usually because Izaya would shoot right back at him with some form of a comeback. It was kind of... nice for him to be so quiet and pliable. Something refreshing and altogether too cute to deny.

It took some effort to get Izaya into something that he could sleep in – which just so happened to be an old shirt of Shizuo's that he'd fished out of the back of his closet – and Shizuo wound up just batting his hands away when the brunette tried to help. For him, it was easier to just slide Izaya's arms through the sleeves and pull the shirt down around him before tucking him into bed.

Izaya was asleep before his head had hit the pillow.

With a smile, Shizuo shook his head. If he'd had a camera, he would have loved to take a picture just to immortalize that image of Izaya to tease him with later. Maybe. It would have been nice to have _**something**_ to dangle over his head when he got particularly annoying. Ah, well, it didn't really matter; he'd treasure the memory anyway.

He changed into his own pajamas before climbing into bed beside Izaya, pulling the informant close to him and relaxing as Izaya cuddled close to him unconsciously. Despite the warm bath, he was still a little chilled and Shizuo had the feeling that he probably wouldn't be feeling too great come morning, but that was surprisingly fine with him. He was content as he pulled the covers up around them and settled down for the night.

Shizuo felt remarkably relaxed and calm. It felt better to have Izaya there because at least then he knew what the brunette was up to; preferably not getting into trouble or causing problems for others and leaving him to deal with that. Maybe that was something they should talk about. But that could wait.

Yep, he wasn't going to be doing anymore heavy thinking tonight. It could wait.

**FIN.**

Comments are much appreciated. 3 I'll be focusing a little more on Fragility for a while before I go trawling across the meme for more prompts (lies, I've got some bookmarked that I want to write first) so this is not the last you'll hear from me.

Good news is that it's finally starting to feel like spring now!

Twilight.**  
**


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